INTELLIGENCE IN CHINA 0J
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RICHARD LYNN )6&\WNL-x
University of Ulster, Northern Ireland :dN35Y] a
Studies of the intelligence of' Oriental peoples in Japan, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Singapore %g&,]=W\N
and the United States have typically reported slightly higher mean IQs than those of NE3wui1 V
British and American Caucasoids. Recently results have become available for a h50StZ8Yr
standardization of Raven's Standard Progressive Matrices in the People's Republic of x\.i`ukx
China. The results show that Chinese 6-15 year-olds obtain a mean IQ of 102.1 in relation
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to an American Caucasoid standard of I00. DA$Q-
A number of studies have shown that the Oriental or Mongoloid peoples 1H=wl=K
have higher mean IQs than whites or Caucasoids of European origin in the zD^f%p ["#
United States and Britain. Much of the literature on this question is reviewed hPz
df*(8
in Lynn (1987). The IQ advantage of Mongoloid populations has generally cJEz>Z6[
been found to lie between 2 to 8 IQ points. A number of studies of =h::VB}Lv
intelligence in Japan indicate that the mean IQ is approximately 105. Studies C..2y4bA}
of the intelligence of children in Taiwan and Singapore have obtained mean }+
2"?f|]
IQs of approximately 103. A recent study of children in Hong Kong obtained 0:'jU
a mean IQ of 110 (Lynn, Pagliari & Chan, 1988). The extensive literature "t:.mA<v
on the intelligence of ethnic Orientals in the United States was reviewed by l;*lPRoW,
Vernon (1982) who concluded that the mean non-verbal IQ was about 110 zm+4Rl(
and the verbal IQ about 97, which can be averaged to give a figure of 103.5. e6HlOGPVQH
Although data are now available on the intelligence levels of Mongoloids @$d\5Q(G
in a variety of locations, the jewel in the crown is missing. This is the vvAk<[
intelligence of the population in the People's Republic of China. The interest _]UDmn[C
in obtaining data on intelligence in China is twofold. Firstly, this is the `E=rh3 L0o
homeland of by far the greatest number of Mongoloids. Secondly, the high 15o.j!S
intelligence levels of Mongoloids in several locations could have been ;j U-<
determined by selective emigration from China. This is suggested by Flynn xm|4\H&Bg
(1989) for the Chinese in the United States, and the same argument could be 82za4u$q#
applied to the Chinese populations of Taiwan, Hong Kong and Singapore. df6Ν4L
Data on the intelligence level of the population of mainland China are crucial lE)rRG+JLW
for the resolution of this problem. The required data have recently become M/a/H=J
available and are the subject of this report. 0 jP00
METHOD xY0QGQca
A Chinese standardization of the Progressive Matrices was carried out by g[au-.:
Hou Can Zhang of Beijing Normal University in the mid-nineteen eighties. _qt;{,t
The standardization sample consisted of 5,108 individuals drawn as a Y-q@~vZ]
stratified sample from the 6 principal administrative areas of China and from IS2Ij
small, medium sized and large towns within these areas. The results are given _MbVF>JOx
in the form of norm tables in Raven and Court (1989). These norm tables ; axaZV
consist of raw scores for a number of age groups and the percentile hlFU"u_
equivalents of raw scores, set out in the same format as those given for the qTHg[sME
United States in Raven (1986) and for Britain in Raven (1981). ] ZGvRA&
RESULTS Kn#xY3W6
The American norm tables give the most precise percentile equivalents for tH,K\v`f
raw scores and for this reason are the most satisfactory standard with which ~,!hE&LE~
to compare results from China and elsewhere. For the Chinese data it is o+-Ge
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possible to derive American percentile equivalents for 20 age groups over the AKKU-5
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age range 6-15 years. These have been collapsed into 5 age groups, the OF<n T
percentiles transformed into IQs and the Chinese results given in relation to d]ZC8<`w
American IQ means of 100 and SDs of 15 in Table 1. Mean IQs of British cm@ oun
children are also given in the Table, making the same calculations from the x;FO|fH
British standardisation sample. d50IAa^p6J
TABLE 1: MEAN SCORES AND IQs OF AMERICAN, BRITISH e4qk>Cw
AND CHINESE CHILDREN ON RAVEN'S STANDARD N~}v:rK>g
PROGRESSIVE MATRICES. `s83rhs`!
It will be seen that the Chinese children obtain consistently higher means #/t>}lc
than the American and a marginally higher overall mean than the British. n5k^v$'
The mean IQ of American children is depressed by the presence of $^=jPk]+
substantial numbers of blacks in the population. The mean IQ of white 4 uy @ {
Americans is 102.2 (Jensen and Reynolds, 1982). Hence in relation to an "gN* J)!x
American Caucasoid mean IQ of 100, British children obtain a mean of 101.2 ;Nf hKu%K
and Chinese children of 102.1. The statistical significance of the higher mean >\7RIy3
obtained by the Chinese children in relation to the American can be tested by ss`q{ARb
calculating the standard errors. The difference between the means is greater rfX
F 01I
than twice the standard errors and can therefore be considered statistically M-Z6TL
significant. The Chinese-British difference is not statistically significant. YY:iPaGO
DISCUSSION )fd-IYi-3
The results show that the intelligence level of children and adolescents in y:|.m@
j1
mainland China is slightly higher than that of Caucasoids in the United States ]u4>;sa
and in Britain, although the Chinese-British difference is not statistically t6bWSz0
significant. In evaluating the result, account needs to be taken of the very low x|v[Dxf]
living standards in China. Fm$n@RbX
Few dispute that intelligence is to some degree determined by envi- xeYySM=
ronmental conditions and standards of living. Thus children adopted by H]i+o6
middle-class families enjoying good living conditions obtain higher IQs than VIz{}_~'s
their siblings reared in working-class families (Dumaret, 1985; Capron & /i
k)4]>
Duyme, 1989). Furthermore, the increase in living standards in the s/G5wRl<
economically developed western nations over the course of the last half p=-B~:
century has been accompanied by a rise in intelligence of approximately 15 fteyG$-s
IQ points (Flynn, 1987; Lynn & Hampson, 1986). A major factor in this h`EH~ W0:z
rise has probably been that the increase in living standards has been F
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accompanied by better nutrition and this, in turn, has led to improvements in !v5sWVVR
the neurological development of the brain (Lynn, 1990). 0^!,[oh6*
In the mid-nineteen eighties the per capita income in China was 227 US iTug
vb
dollars as compared with 16,636 US dollars in the United States and 8,064 m{lRFKx>s
US dollars in Britain (United Nations, 1987). To equate the United States and Ag>>B9
Britain with China for the standard of living it would be necessary to go back *M5$ h*;v
at least to the beginning of the century when British and American mean IQs )1Ma~8Y%r
were substantially lower than they are today. Hence, if and when living 1Fvv/Tj
standards in China improve, the intelligence of the population can be Ife,h
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expected to increase further. oj^5G
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